Carl F. Cenner

Saturday

Carl F. "Big Carl" Cenner, 90, passed away on November 28, 2007 in Durham, NC after a long illness.

Carl was born in New York City on January 6, 1917, the only son of Otto and Helena (Meyer) Cenner.

He graduated from Evander Childs High School in the Bronx, and began work for the United States Parcel Service in 1935. He became one of the first Postal Service Union representatives and helped vote in medical insurance as a benefit. Work was interrupted in 1943 by his entry in the United States Army Air Force. He served in the China Burma India Asiatic Theatre of Operations and was honorably discharged in 1946. He returned to the Postal Service, working on the United Postal Service Railway System until his retirement 35 years later.

Carl married the former Gertrude Dorothy Boklund in 1946, who predeceased him in December 1984. They had three children together. The eldest son, Richard Allen Cenner, who predeceased him in July 2006; second son, Carl Roger Cenner, and a daughter, Arlene Barbara Cenner.

Carl married his second wife, Inez Diane Israel, June 1986, and added her four children to his life: son, Matthew Hunter and his wife, Donna, son, Arne Israel and his wife, Jacqueline, daughter, Leslie Rubins and her husband, Lary, and daughter, Jaimie Graff and her husband, Ronald. He was known as Grandpa Carl to Bridget and Luke Israel, Agatha and Cassady Rubins and Dana and Zeb Hunter.

For 15 years, Carl volunteered as a driver for Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY, and the AmericanCancerSociety in Milford, PA. He was active for many years in the Literacy Programs in NY State and Pennsylvania. He also played his harmonica at VA Hospitals, nursing homes, church functions, as well as impromptu holiday sessions at his local bank, his doctors office and wherever the mood took him.

Carl was a big and gentle man, a good citizen and a beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend to many.

Services for Carl will be on Saturday, May 3, at the Delaware Cemetery, Dingmans Ferry, PA at 11 a.m., with the Rev. Niel Nielsen officiating.